It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What is the best book you read in August 2022 and why did you love it? It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF, or even fiction. We just want to share some great reading material.
Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our Fanlit Faves page and our 5-Star SFF page.
One commenter with a U.S. mailing address will choose one of these prizes:
- a FanLit T-shirt (we have sizes M, L, XL)
- a book from our stacks.
- a $5 Amazon gift card (this is the only option for non-USA addresses).
For once, this question is easy for me to answer!
If you haven’t read “Nettle & Bone” by T. Kingfisher yet, then you’re missing out on an excellent (dark) fantasy story!
The youngest princess from a small kingdom goes on a quest to save her older sister from her abusive marriage. What she believes will be “simple” because her quest is “heroic,” she has a fairy godmother, and it’s similar to the tales (an interesting take on tropes from both fantasy and fairy tales), proves to be more challenging than “completing 3 ‘impossible’ tasks.” This is what makes the story engaging from beginning to end, and it’s definitely one of my favorite books of this year!
I won’t be surprised when this book receives all of the upcoming literary award nominations! It deserves them all!
That book was so much fun! I’d be shocked if it didn’t get a nomination next year.
Doesn’t look like I read any SF/F this month. A police procedural/mystery that I tore through was the Daniel Owen series by Ripley Hayes. It’s set in North Wales. Good characters, interesting relationship.
Husband Material, sequel to Boyfriend Material, by Alexis Hall came out as well. Luc and Oliver attend several weddings and plan their own and more zany happenings occur.
A reread which I think qualifies as both an excellent book and an interesting look into how a bill is sent to the UK Parliament: Division Bells by Iona Datt Sharma. They have published speculative fiction, but this one is purely contemporary, set recently after Brexit. Ari is preparing his minister’s portion of a giant infrastructure bill. Jules (Julian) has been dropped into his lap as a ‘spad’, special advisor. While he does have the training to help sort of, he’s also the son of a peer thus the direct appointment as a spad. Ari’s not fond of spads. At all.
No SciFi/Fantasy for me either in August. A few books stand out: “Bolivar” a charming graphic novel by Sean Rubin, “Wake” by Anna Hope which follows three women picking up the pieces in England after WWI, and “Death in a Strange Country” from the Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon which I’m enjoying working my way through.
“Maggie Finds Her Muse” by Dee Ernst. It’s a fun, light read about a writer of romantic suspense novels who visits her grown daughter in Paris. Will she find new romance by rekindling her relationship with her ex? Or will she find romance with a swoon-worthy Frenchman??
no genre here as well (I read some, just didn’t match the non-genre books). My two favorites were Ithaca by Claire North (I suppose one could table it “genre”) and Natural History by Andrea Barrett
clearly I’m going to have to pick up the Kingfisher based on the raves it’s been getting
The best book I read in August was “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin. This was my first time reading this popular book and there are many things to like about it. I enjoyed the plot and character development. It is well written and moves at a nice pace. That said, it was a little too bizarre for my taste, so I doubt I’ll continue the series.
Kevin; You have won your choice of:
–a FanLit T shirt (please list your first 2 preferred sizes.)
–a book from our stacks.
–a $5 Amazon gift card. (If your address is outside of the USA, you will get the gift card.)
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!